8 edge rushers the Eagles could sign after the Brandon Graham injury

On By Littum

Brandon Graham suffers from one season-ending (and potentially career-ending?) triceps injury during the Philadelphia Eagles’ win over the Los Angeles Rams is pretty devastating. He’s legitimately been one of their best defenders this year, so he won’t be replaced easily.

But the show must go on. And the Eagles currently look pretty light on edge rushers with BG done for the year, Josh Sweat getting beat up against the Rams, and Bryce Huff recently going on injured reserve. The Eagles currently have two healthy edge rushers: Nolan Smith and Jalyx Hunt.

Therefore, the team will have to make a move (or more) to solve this position. Maybe it will be as simple as putting BG on injured reserve and bringing Tarron Jackson to the roster. We’ll get more into the Eagles’ internal options later.

For now, here are some of the best free agent edge rusher options. It’s obviously not the most exciting list, but you can’t expect to find good opportunities at the end of November.

1) Jason Pierre-Paul

Wouldn’t it be great if the Eagles replaced Graham’s roster spot with JPP?! At one time, the Eagles were thought to have drafted the latter instead of the former. I’d say the Eagles are ultimately pretty happy with the career that Graham has had for them.

JPP turns 36 in January. He is younger than Graham, who turned 36 in April earlier this year. And he is reportedly interested in playing this season:

JPP played for Vic Fangio on the Miami Dolphins last year. Of course, he only saw five defensive snaps in two games before being cut.

JPP had three sacks and and five TFLs for the Baltimore Ravens in 2022. Maybe he still has something left in the tank? But maybe not.

2) Melvin Ingram

Ingram, 35, also overlapped Fangio in Miami last year. He played 95 of the Dolphins’ defensive snaps and logged 1.5 sacks and a TFL.

Nick Sirianni also has some level of familiarity with Ingram. They overlapped on the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers from 2013 to 2017.

3) Justin Houston

Houston, who turns 36 in January, played in seven games for the Carolina Panthers in 2023. He had half a sack and two TFLs before requesting his release.

Houston then signed with Fangio’s Dolphins just days before their playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs. He played 22 defensive snaps in Miami’s loss, logging a solo tackle and no other stats.

4) Bruce Irvin

Irvin, who turned 37 earlier this month, signed with the Dolphins on the same day Houston did earlier this year. He played just 12 defensive snaps and did not register a stat in Miami’s playoff loss.

5) Rasheem Green

Since we’ve only suggested older guys to this point, let’s take a look at a younger option. Green, a 2018 third-round pick (No. 79 overall), is just 27 years old. He has been a solid rotational edge rusher, averaging 3.2 sacks per game. season (19 in 86 total games played).

Green spent time in training camp with the Jacksonville Jaguars in the offseason before being cut in mid-August. Not a good sign that he couldn’t make the Jags … even though they have quality, edge rusher talent.

6) Genard Avery

Long time BGN readers know I wasn’t going to be a big fan of this one! But it might be worth noting that Avery — who the Eagles acquired before the 2019 trade deadline — was waived by the Indianapolis Colts over the weekend. The Eagles could try to claim him.

Avery, 29, has been limited to just 74 defensive snaps in three years since he last played for the Eagles in 2021. He’s a poor man’s Bryce Huff.

7) Kemoko Turay

Turay didn’t quite pan out as a second-round pick (No. 52 overall) with the Colts, producing 12 sacks in 38 games before Indy let him go in free agency. Turay landed on the San Francisco 49ers, where he played just 42 snaps in 2022. Turay failed to stick with the Atlanta Falcons in 2023. He was placed on injured reserve by the Panthers and was later waived on IR in 2024.

Turay signed with the UFL last month and their season doesn’t begin until March, so he may not expect to be ready to play this year. His injury status is not entirely clear.

But Turay overlapped with Sirianni in Indy from 2018 to 2020, so we mention the 29-year-old here.

8) Thank you McKinley

Not super exciting, but McKinley, the 26th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, is available to be signed off the New York Jets’ practice squad. He has half a sack and a TFL in 130 defensive snaps played for NYJ this season.

Eagles poacher McKinley would guarantee his roster spot and salary for at least three weeks. They may not want to go with that kind of commitment.

So what should the Eagles do?

If Fangio is intrigued by a veteran, go for it and give him what he wants. That player may not be able to play a ton right away. The Eagles could look to start someone like that on the practice squad while the aforementioned Tarron Jackson gets the first crack at a job.

Again, there aren’t many great options.